Fire UK price cutsNot long after rolling out the new 7-inch £49 (a.k.a. $50) Kindle Fire in the UK, Amazon has already slashed the prices of its larger brethren, the new Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 tablets. Originally launched at £129.99 ($198), the Fire HD8 now retails at £99.99 ($152.13). The Fire HD 10, meanwhile, has dropped from £169.99 ($258.67) to £139.99 ($213).

Just how long these offers are going to last isn’t clear. I also don’t see – yet – any sign of movement on pricing for the same devices in the US, or on the UK Fire Kids Edition or Fire HD 6. Indeed, the UK price of the Fire HD 8 is now within a hair of Amazon’s prices for the same device in the US, eliminating, for once, the barely justifiable UK price premium. The Fire HD 10, meanwhile, now actually undercuts the price of the same device in the US, still priced at $229.99 at the time of writing – which makes me wonder if US cuts will follow.

It’s also interesting to speculate whether these prices are signs that both larger devices are being heavily undercut by the bargain-basement Kindle Fire 7 since their collective launch in September. Has their little brother been such a runaway success in the UK that Amazon is being forced to push their prices down to compete?

In any case, this move further puts pressure on the rest of the UK tablet market. Tesco for one must be glad it chose to exit the tablet business, with the UK press now lauding the Kindle Fire in contrast as “the best budget tablet money can buy.” Any UK buyers still debating whether to choose a bigger device for Christmas giving or just for themselves shouldn’t hesitate now. E-books will surely be opening on some bigger screens this UK Yuletide…

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